From the room he and his family call home inside the school-turned-shelter, he felt a duty to let the world know what life is really like for them, through daily videos he shares on social media as the ongoing war approaches its eighth month.
Ghalia Al-Kilani, with her brother-in-law Bassem Al-Habal and her niece in the background, in a shelter for displaced people in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza.
Challenges for the deaf
Ms. Al-Kilani helps her brother-in-law convey what he says to those who do not understand sign language.
However, she said, there is a great challenge for the deaf community in Gaza in recognising the bombing and shooting that is happening around them, which puts their lives in extra danger.
She also emphasised the extreme difficulty faced by deaf persons with disabilities, to make a living now in Gaza. That’s why she began helping him communicate his voice and message through social media.
Ms. Al-Kilani began helping him translate and communicate everything he observed and photographed around him, and right now, Mr. Al-Habal has more than 25,000 followers on Instagram.
Stories from the north
Before speaking to UN News, Mr. Al-Habal explained to his social media followers the predicament faced by friends who are deaf with disabilities in northern Gaza, which seven months ago he called home.
Some of them were killed because they did not hear the bombing and the instructions of the Israeli forces, and when others tried to move their bodies, some were hit by gunfire, he said.
Back at the small room in the shelter, Mr. Al-Habal said he will continue to publish daily videos so that the world can see what is really happening to them.
“Why does the world watch what is happening to us and remains silent?” he asked, expressing hope that “the war will stop, and life will return to normal in Gaza.”